I had just dragged ass into the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles—race headquarters for the Olympic Marathon Trials—and got in the elevator with Des Linden. She is one of, if not the, favorites in today’s race to determine the Rio team. Linden came up to my shoulder, the size of many 10-year-olds, but thinner, and was warmly swaddled in top o’ the line Brooks gear—jacket, wicking shirt, track pants, kicks—despite, or maybe because of L.A.